FIRE SAFETY ORDER PROSECUTION – CHICHESTER RESTAURANT

FIRE SAFETY ORDER PROSECUTION - CHICHESTER RESTAURANT

There has been a recent fire safety order prosecution.  The Wildwood restaurant chain were found guilty of four charges under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 following a fire safety inspection last month.

The matter came to light following a complaint from a member of the public.

The South Street restaurant was fined £13,452.00.  In addition they were ordered to pay £1,962.00 costs at Worthing Magistrates Court on May 27 2016.

News

When fire safety officers visited the property a number of serious breaches where found.

They included obstructed fire exits, defective emergency lighting, the absence of a working fire alarm and dangerous electrics.  In addition a fire risk assessment took no account of on-going building work on the 2nd floor of the property where staff were sleeping.

The situation was so dangerous that a Prohibition Notice was instantly served on the premises, preventing its use as sleeping quarters.

Richard Bradley, business fire safety manager for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, said: “The property was being refurbished and the building work had overrun.

“The company made the decision to open, even though the fire alarm was not working and there were a number of serious fire safety issues. This is putting people’s lives at risk for the sake of profit and that simply isn’t acceptable.”

The full story appears via the Chichester Observer.  Click here to read the article.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.